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Episode 104: Old Friends
Old Friends is the fourth episode of the first season and the fourth episode overall. Notes * Clients: Bill Reese * Bad Guys: Jan Haseck, Carl Wilhelm, Oscar Wilhelm, Brandon Diggs Synopsis Michael's friend Bill asks for the spy's help in freeing his daughter from a prostitution ring. Meanwhile, Michael dodges multiple assassination attempts. Full Recap While Michael and Sam are sitting in a local bar, in walks a Czech assassin known to Michael, Jan Hasek. Making impromptu "brass knuckles" out of a bent butter knife, Michael pretends to be drunk and picks a fight with a loudmouth in the bar, letting the fight spill over to the table of the surprised assassin, who is taken off guard by an elbow to the throat and a "Welcome to Miami ass****" in his native language. Michael and Sam run out of the bar. But the appearance of Jan gives Michael yet another opportunity to learn more about the source of his burn notice from another member of the espionage community, so he's not entirely unhappy Jan is in Miami. Back at the apartment with Fiona, they are rigging a shotgun to the door of the apartment in case Jan shows up. Michael gets a call from his mother, who neatly manipulates him into coming to her house by threatening to put her hand down the supposedly malfunctioning disposal if Michael won't come to check it out for her. Arriving at Madeline's, Michael is "attacked" by his brother, Nate. The fight is brief, and both are scolded by Madeline for not getting along better. Michael protests that the last time he saw Nate, he'd taken out 10 credit cards in his name and lost Michael's rental car in a poker game, not to mention hitting him in the back of the head with a phone book. Madeline is oblivious to the truth, as usual, seeing only her fantasy vision of the perfect family. She even admits calmly to lying about the disposal to get Michael to come and talk to Nate. And she tells Michael that Nate has come, because somebody needs his help. Nate explains that Madeleine has told him about Michael's new gig "helping people", and an old friend's daughter has gone missing. Michael rapidly figures out that Nate has already accepted both the job and a cash advance. Prying the money from his gambling brother's pocket, Michael leaves, intent on returning the money. In his conversation with the old friend, Bill Reese, they learn that the girl is 18, so the police won't help. Bill says Jenna met a guy who promised her a modeling career and has disappeared with the only number he had to reach her disconnected. He reveals that Nate had told him the job would cost $3,000.00. His only lead is a picture of the boyfriend, Brandon Diggs. Reluctantly, Michael agrees to take the job. Sam tracks down the cell phone records of the disconnected number, giving them a name and a place to look for Brandon Diggs. Locating him, Fiona volunteers to entice him out of the bar so Michael can question him about Jenna. Brandon, expecting a one night stand with Fiona, is surprised to be confronted in his own car by Michael. He admits to having recruited Jenna for a prostitution ring for the Wilhelm brothers, scum masquerading as modeling agents and well known on the Miami charity circuit. Sam finds their next charity event, and Michael gets their attention by bidding against them for a couture evening gown. Nate uses his ability to read people's tells to instigate Michael to bid more than he'd like to, but the ploy works. Michael doesn't win the dress, but does get invited to the Wilhelm's next party. Fiona has been tracking Jan and lets Michael know he has left the hotel. Michael uses his ingenuity to gain entrance to the room, looking for clues about Jan's mission. He finds an empty cup from a hot dog joint and checks the room service orders. Jan catches Michael in the corridor, and a knife fight breaks out. Michael is holding his own until the assassin pulls a second knife, and Michael jumps on a crowded elevator, knowing the body count would be unacceptable to Jan...espionage is about not being noticed. Michael locates Jenna quickly at the party, but isn't allowed much conversation with her. They do talk long enough for Michael to know she truly believes this is her shot at a huge modeling career and won't leave willingly. He also learns that she believes she is leaving the next day for a "photo shoot" in Dubai, and that the Wilhelms run their young, unsuspecting prostitutes out of the country, so time is critical. In spite of Sam and Fiona's differing plans, he knows he'll have to stop the car on the way to the airport and take the girl. Back at Madeline's house, a handful of "enforcers" came to beat up Nate and remind him of his gambling debts. Nate wants his half of the job money now, but Michael is convinced that Nate will simply gamble it away rather than pay off his debt, Nate walks off in anger. While preparing the car at his mother's house, Michael hears that Nate went to his house, the house he rigged with a shot gun in case anyone unfriendly entered. Michael rushes to his house, only to get shot at by Jan. A ricochet bullet hits Michael in the back of the shoulder, however, Nate pulls out a gun and chases Jan off. Michael's shooting delays him from the plan to snatch Jenna, so Sam and Fiona improvise a small car accident. While Sam is screaming about personal injuries and calling the police, the Wilhelms decide that Jenna can catch her plane the following day...no criminal hangs around when 911 is being dialed. Michael teaches Nate how to remove the bullet from the wound, a task Nate enjoys tremendously. Sam walks in on this and wants the scoop, but Michael tells him it was a drive-by gang thing to protect Sam from having to tell the Feds anything genuine. He also sets Fiona on Jan's trail. She has learned that Jan supervises the preparation of his food by the hotel staff personally. Michael, sensing something odd, assigns Fiona to find out why. With time short, Michael decides to modify his kidnap plan. He grabs one of the Wilhelm brothers rather than Jenna. He offers to return the one brother if the other will let Jenna go and return all the money earned from the prostitution to the girls themselves. Additionally, to help Jenna accept the situation, he requires that the pimp tells Jenna exactly what would have been facing her in Dubai. The exchange is made, and a shaken Jenna is returned to a grateful father. Now, time to deal with Jan. Michael needs to know anything Jan can tell him about his burn notice. Fiona has learned that the reason Jan personally supervises the cooking of his own food is that he is deathly allergic to peanuts. Michael stakes out the hot dog stand advertised on the empty cup he found when he checked out Jan's room. Sure enough, Jan goes late that night to enjoy a hot dog...one Michael has sprinkled with crushed peanuts. Michael uses Jan's allergic reaction to force him to answer Michael's questions. All Jan can say is that people who should want him dead are now being required to keep him alive. He gives Jan the epi pen injection and zip-ties his leg to the picnic bench, calling Sam, so he can send the Feds and an ambulance. The next day he learns from Sam that someone with much higher clearance than the Feds took Jan from federal custody and put him in a holding cell, leaving him with his shoe laces, with which Jan was presumed to have committed suicide. Michael is chilled. Even Sam points out it's basic procedure to confiscate anything like shoelaces and suspects that Jan was murdered. Wakened by a banging noise the next morning, Michael finds a plant and a smiley-face balloon delved to his doorstep, with a note telling him to: "Take care of that shoulder and we'll be in touch soon". It's signed "Your Old Friends". Cast Main *Jeffrey Donovan as Michael Westen *Gabrielle Anwar as Fiona Glenanne *Bruce Campbell as Sam Axe *Sharon Gless as Madeline Westen Recurring * Seth Peterson as Nate Westen * Marc Macaulay as Harris * Brandon Morris as Lane Guest * Eric Lange as Bill Reese * Ilia Volok as Jan Haseck * Mark Totty as Carl Wilhelm * William Haze as Oscar Wilhelm * Tino Sutras as Brandon Diggs Trivia *The Sandbar, Sam's favourite bar he says he can never go back to, now that Michael caused such a ruckus, is a real bar in Coconut Grove. Continuity Errors *When Michael is at the hotel, he comes off the stairs on the fourth floor, but when he gets in the elevator, it clearly says he's on the seventh floor. 104 Category:Season 1